Bottled Water Not So Pure

Bottled water isn't necessarily any purer than the water you get from your tap -- it's just more expensive.

The Environmental Working Group tested 10 major bottled-water brands. Thirty-eight low-level contaminants turned up in the water, with each brand containing an average of eight chemicals. Disinfection products, caffeine, Tylenol, nitrate, industrial chemicals, arsenic and bacteria were all detected.

Two brands contained disinfection byproducts at levels that exceeded California's bottled-water standards, and bottles of Wal-Mart's Sam's Choice bought in the Bay Area contained trihalomethanes, which have been linked to cancer and miscarriages.

In fact, the Wal-Mart water and a brand sold on the East Coast by the Giant supermarket chain were “chemically indistinguishable from tap water.”

Sources:
Los Angeles Times October 15, 2008
JustGetThere.us October 16, 2008
ABC News October 15, 2008